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<p>The way in which doctoral students conceptualize research—the core component of doctoral education—significantly influences their engagement in research activities. However, their engagement in research activities may also be influenced by their initial motivation to do a PhD. This study thus investigated the relationship between doctoral students’ motivation for pursuing a doctorate and their conceptualization of research. A phenomenographic research design was employed, involving 41 mainland Chinese science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) PhD students. We first identified three main categories representing the spectrum of research conceptualization among these students: conception of purpose, conception of implementation, and conception of perseverance. Then, we found that the motivation to do a PhD influenced students’ research conceptualization: those guided by an intrinsic motivation highlighted the conceptualization of purpose, those having more autonomous forms of extrinsic motivation stressed the conceptualizations of implementation and perseverance, and those having less autonomous extrinsic motivation emphasized the conceptualization of perseverance. This nuanced relationship underscores the importance of aligning students’ motivational profiles with research conceptualizations to promote deeper engagement in research during doctoral studies.</p>

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The relationship between motivation for doing a PhD and research conceptualizations among STEM doctoral students in China

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年11月26日

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  • Ting Zhou,
  • Hugo Horta,
  • Yingxin Liu

摘要

The way in which doctoral students conceptualize research—the core component of doctoral education—significantly influences their engagement in research activities. However, their engagement in research activities may also be influenced by their initial motivation to do a PhD. This study thus investigated the relationship between doctoral students’ motivation for pursuing a doctorate and their conceptualization of research. A phenomenographic research design was employed, involving 41 mainland Chinese science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) PhD students. We first identified three main categories representing the spectrum of research conceptualization among these students: conception of purpose, conception of implementation, and conception of perseverance. Then, we found that the motivation to do a PhD influenced students’ research conceptualization: those guided by an intrinsic motivation highlighted the conceptualization of purpose, those having more autonomous forms of extrinsic motivation stressed the conceptualizations of implementation and perseverance, and those having less autonomous extrinsic motivation emphasized the conceptualization of perseverance. This nuanced relationship underscores the importance of aligning students’ motivational profiles with research conceptualizations to promote deeper engagement in research during doctoral studies.